Back From the US

Yishai, Shalom,

Back from the US (SR) (United States Socialist Republic)

I just returned from my first trip to the US in 7 years.

It was great to see my friends and relatives, but everything else I found repugnant.

The US appears to me to be a country in decline. People still live in their McMansions, they handle laptops casually like notebooks, they are awash in IPods, IPhones, and other IGadgets, but there are worrying signs.

Americans always complain about the poor service in Israel. Yet in the US, I found myself being served by people lacking basic skills, who could hardly speak English, and when competent, they were rude. Whenever I called a 1-800 number for assistance, I reached a call-center in India.

In Israel, one can usually convince people to make an exception for extenuating circumstances, whereas in America, everything is by the book, if they are capable of reading it. Many American also complain about Israeli chutzpah and lack of manners. I have noticed some improvement since I have moved here, but I admit that there is room for more improvement.

On the other hand, I saw the famous American talent for waiting in lines in an orderly fashion, in an entirely different light. I found myself inadvertently behaving like an Israeli on several occassions, and the condemnation was swift. In addition, the same willingness to follow orders could be used for "other ends." Besides, the Torah was given to the Jewish people, a stiff-necked people, and not to well-mannered Lutherans in Minnesota.

As for the American dream, people spoke of declining real-estate values, many others lost a good part of their savings in the wreckage of Fannie Mae. Americans will not admit their attachment to "Gashimut" though. If "Gashmiut" were a shop at the mall, it would have a plastic faux-wood finish and would be called "Ye Olde Gashmiut" shop.

kol tuv,
Dan